Species identity of Phellinus linteus (sanghuang) extensively used as a medicinal mushroom in Korea

Han, J. G.,Hyun, M. W.,Kim, C. S.,Jo, J. W.,Cho, J. H.,Lee, K. H.,Kong, W. S.,Han, S. K.,Oh, J.,Sung, G. H. MICROBIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF KOREA 2016 The journal of microbiology Vol.54 No.4

<P>Sanghuang is a medicinal mushroom that has gained particular attention in Korea. It has been extensively studied for the past few decades as a natural immune booster and cancer suppressor. Although the scientific name, Phellinus linteus, has been commonly used to refer to the sanghuang mushroom, the species identity of sanghuang has been called into question due to the ambiguity of its circumscription and the inadequacy of morphological distinctions within allied species. Because the species concept of sanghuang has been elucidated by recent molecular phylogenetic studies, it has become necessary to clarify the taxonomic positions of sanghuang strains extensively utilized in Korea. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 74 strains belonging to the P. linteus-baumii complex based on ITS nrDNA sequences. Parental stains of sanghuang varieties formally registered in the Korea Seed & Variety Service, including ASI 26046 (Corea sanghuang), 26114 (Boolro), and 26115 (HK 1-ho) were grouped with Sanghuangporus sanghuang instead of P. linteus in the inferred phylogeny.</P>

New record and enzyme activity of four species in Penicillium section Citrina from marine environments in Korea.

Park, Myung Soo,Eom, Ji Eun,Fong, Jonathan J,Lim, Young Woon Microbiological Society of Korea 2015 The journal of microbiology Vol.53 No.4

<P>Several strains of Penicillium section Citrina were isolated during a survey of fungi from marine environments along the southern coast of Korea. Based on multigene phylogenetic analyses (β-tubulin and calmodulin) and morphological characteristics, the 11 strains were identified as P. citrinum, P. hetheringtonii, P. paxilli, P. sumatrense, P. terrigenum, and P. westlingii. To understand the ecological role of these species, we tested all strains for extracellular enzyme activity; six strains representing four species showed β-glucosidase activity. Four of the identified species - P. hetheringtonii, P. paxilli, P. terrigenum, and P. westlingii - are new records for Korea. For these new species records, we describe morphological characteristics of the strains and compare results to published data of type strains.</P>

High Prevalence of the China 1 Strain of Epstein-Barr Virus in Korea as Determined by Sequence Polymorphisms in the Carboxy-Terminal Tail of LMP1

Cho, Sung-Gyu,Lee, Won-Keun The Microbiological Society of Korea 2003 The journal of microbiology Vol.41 No.2

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMPI) exhibits considerable sequence heterogeneity among EBV isolates. Seven distinct EBV strains have been defined based on sequence polymorphisms in the LMPI gene, which are designated China 1, China 2, China 3, Alaskan, Mediterranean, NC, and the B95-8 strains. In this study, we analyzed a 30-bp deletion and sequence variations in the carboxy-terminal region of the LMPl gene in 12 EBV isolates from spontaneous lym-phoblastoid cell lines derived from individuals with non-EBV associated cancers in Korea. Eleven of the 12 isolates showed a 30-bp deletion spanning LMPI amino acids 342 to 353, suggesting a high prevalence of the LMPI 30-bp deletion variant among EBV isolates in Korea. In addition, all 12 isolates had a 15-bp common deletion in the 33-bp repeat region and multiple base-pair changes relative to the prototype B95-8 EBV strain along with variations in the number of the 33-bp repeats. The bp changes at positions 168746, 168694, 168687, 168395, 168357, 168355, 168631, 168320, 168308, 168295, and 168225 were highly conserved among the isolates. Comparative analysis of sequence change patterns in the LMPI carboxy-terminal coding region identified nine 30-bp deletion variants as China 1, two deletion variants as a possible interstrain between the Alaskan and China 1 strains, and a single undeleted variant as a possible variant of the Alaskan strain. These results suggest the predominance of the China 1 EBV strain in the Korean population.

Serotyping of Cryptococcus neoformans Strains Isolated in Korea

Hwang, Soo-Myung The Microbiological Society of Korea 2002 The journal of microbiology Vol.40 No.2

Twenty strains of Cryptococcus neoformams isolated from environmental and clinical sources in Korea were examined for their serotypes. Two environmental isolates from pigeon excreta belonged to C. neoformans var. neoformans serotypes A. Of the 18 isolates from clinical specimens, 17 belonged to C. neoformans vats, neoiomans (serotype A : 16, serotype D : 1) and one belonged to C. neoformans vats, gattii serotype B, which was culturally unusual, producing mucous colonies. This is the first report of the identification of C. neoformans roar, gattii serotype B from a patient in Korea.

A Study of the HI Antibody of the Koreans and Swine to Reovirus

이연태,이종훈,Lee, Yun-Tai,Lee, Chong-Hoon The Korea Society for Microbiology 1980 大韓微生物學會誌 Vol.15 No.1

본 연구는 한국인 및 한국 각지의 가축에 대한 reovirus 2형의 혈구응집저지항체의 분포를 알어보고저 실시된 연구이다. 사람의 피검물은 1979년 6월부터 12월까지 시내 종합병원에 래원한 신검대상자 총 614명과 한국각지의 가축(돼지) 총 877수를 대상으로 하였다. 돼지의 혈액은 1977년 6월부터 동년 9월까지 전국 25개 지역에서 채취했다. 이들에 대한 혈청을 분리하여 $-20^{\circ}C$에 보관하면서 실험하였고, 혈구응집저지시험은 Rosen(1960b, 1974)의 수기를 따랐다. 항원(Reovirus 2형)은 이호왕(1975) 교수로부터 분양받어 본 교실에서 HeLa 세포에 계대하여 혈구응집가를 확인하여 사용했다. 실험 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 한국인 총 614명의 Reovirus 2형에 대한 10배 이상 HI항체 보유율은 73.29%로서 한국인이 높은 항체를 보유하고 있었다. 그리고 남녀비는 남자(76.47%)가 여자 (65.12%)보다 약간 높은 경향을 보였다. 2. 연령별로 본 한국인의 항체 보유율은 전 연령군에 고루게 분포되어 있었으나 41세에서 50세군이 85.71%로 약간 높았다. 3. 월별 항체보유율은 6월이 93.22%로 높았고, 10월이 47.62%로 낮았다. 4. 한편 한국의 25개 지역의 총 877수의 돼지에 분포된 항체보유율은 61.80%(542수)였다. 이를 도별로 구분한 바 서울이 83.37%로 가장 높았고, 가장 낮은 지역은 충남으로 40%였다. 5. 월별로 검출된 돼지의 항체보유율은 6월(63.21%)부터 9월(72.25%)까지 사이에 점차 증가되어 가는 경향을 보였다. 6. 사람과 돼지에 분포한 HI 항체가는 그림 2와 같이 대부분이 1:20이내에서 1:80이내에 분포하였으며 상호 차가 있었다. 이상의 실험결과를 토대로 볼때 한국자연계에는 Reovirus 2형이 광범하게 분포되어 있음을 알 수 있었으며, 한국인 및 가축(돼지)에 있어서 높은 항체가를 보유하고 있다는 사실을 새로히 알 수 있었다. The purpose of this paper is to study the incidence of humoral antibody to reovirus type 2 in the sera of the Koreans and animal(swine) at random. All the 614 of human beings and 877 of swine sera were collected during the period from June to December, 1979, from the healthy persons in the National Seoul Hospital and swine blood was collected from 25 different areas of June to 30th of September in 1977. The HI test was put with plastic plates according to the methods by Rosen(1960 a and 1974). The total 73.29% of the 614 cases in human and the 61.80% of the 877 in swine confirmed as a hemagglutination inhibition antibodies. In human the 76.47% of the 442 male cases and the 65.12% of the 172 female ones were confirmed to have humoral antibodies. The positive rate was widely shown in each age group. But the 31 to 50 old age groups showed a little higher than any other age group, which came to the 85.71% in 41-50 and the 78.72% in 31-40 old age groups. The monthly distribution of HI antibody was shown to reach the 93.22% of the 59 cases in June. This per cent was much higher than of any other distribution. Accordingly, the auther came to the conclusion that there is reovirus type 2 in all the parts of Korea and most of the Koreans have the higher rates of antibody. However, the positive rate of antibody was the 542 out of the 877 cases(61.8%) from the swine and antibodies was confirmed from the 25 different areas in Korea. The seasonal distribution of the antibody showed these high rates. In domestics animals; blood from the swine showed that distribution of HI antibodies to reoviras type 2. These antibody appears from the various areas of the province in Korea. For this reasons, reovirus was widely distributed in this country.

Current Status of Antimicrobial Resistance in Korea

Chong, Yun-Sop The Korea Society for Microbiology 2000 大韓微生物學會誌 Vol.35 No.5

MRSA, erythromycin-resistant S. pyogenes, penicillin non-susceptible pneumococci, PPNG, ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae, class C ${\beta}$-lactamase-producing E. coli, fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli, aminoglycoside-resistant A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa are all prevalent in Korea, which suggest the presence of high levels of antimicrobial selective pressure and nosocomial spread of resistant bacteria. Rapid increase of VRE and emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant gonococci and VIM-2 metallo-${\beta}$-lactamase-producing P. aeruginosa are recently observed new threats in Korea.

2010년도 국내 임상에서 분리한 다제내성 녹농균의 유전자형 조사

김민지,차민경,이도경,강주연,박재은,김영희,박일호,신혜순,하남주,Kim, Min Ji,Cha, Min Kyeong,Lee, Do Kyung,Kang, Ju Yeon,Park, Jae Eun,Kim, Young Hee,Park, Il Ho,Shin, Hea Soon,Ha, Nam Joo The Microbiological Society of Korea 2012 미생물학회지 Vol.48 No.4

녹농균은 특히 면역이 저하된 환자에게서 심각한 감염을 일으키는 그람음성의 기회감염 균주이다. 또한 carbapenem 내성 metallo-${\beta}$-lactamases (MBL)를 가진 녹농균이 한국에서 증가되는 추세로 보고되고 있다. 따라서 본 실험에서는 2차 병원인 삼육 서울 병원에서 수집된 총 92종의 임상 녹농균의 다재내성 수준을 분석하였다. 항생제에 대한 감수성은 최소억제농도(MIC) 분석에 의해 결정되었고, inhibitor-potentiated disk diffusion(IPD) 분석은 MBL 검출을 위해 수행되었다. RAPD-PCR은 임상환자에서 분리한 녹농균 계통의 유전적 유형의 특징을 밝히기 위해 사용되었다. 그 결과 임상에서 분리된 녹농균의 40.2%는 ceftazidime에 내성을, 58.7%는 meropenem에 내성을, 56.5%는 gentamicin에 내성을, 46.7%는 tobramycin에 내성을, 62.0%는 ciprofloxacin에 내성을 그리고 97.8%는 chloramphenicol에 내성을 보였다. IPD 분석에 의해 29종의 다재내성 균주로 관찰 되었고, RAPD 분석에 의해 19종은 IPM-1 유전자형을, 2종은 VIM-2 유전자형을 만들었다. MBL 유전자 검출 시험을 통해 19종의 IMP-1 생성 녹농균 중에서 16종이 유사한 유전자형을 보였고, 3종은 다른 유전자형이 관찰되었다. 임상에서 분리한 IMP-1 생성 다재내성 녹농균의 비율은 꾸준히 증가하고 있다. 이번 연구는 2010년 국내 임상에서 분리한 녹농균의 항생제 다제내성 패턴과 유전자형에 대한 정보를 제공한다. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium that causes serious infection, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Also, P. aeruginosa possessing carbapenem-resistant metallo-${\beta}$-lactamases (MBL) has been reported with increasing frequency in Korea. We therefore analyzed the level of multidrug-resistant clinical P. aeruginosa isolated from a secondary hospital in Korea in 2010. A total of 92 isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from Sahmyook Medical Center in 2010. Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined by analysis of the minimum inhibitory concentration test; the inhibitor-potentiated disk diffusion (IPD) test was performed for MBL detection. RAPD-PCR was used for genotyping to rapidly characterize P. aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical patients. The percentages of non-susceptible isolates were as follows: 40.2% to ceftazidime, 58.7% to meropenem, 56.5% to gentamicin, 46.7% to tobramycin, 62.0% to ciprofloxacin and 97.8% to chloramphenicol. The 29 multidrug-resistant strains were screened by the IPD test: of the 21 PCR-positive isolates, 19 were IPM-1 producers and 2 were VIM-2 producers. Among the 19 IMP-1-producing P. aeruginosa isolates, 16 isolates showed similar patterns, and three different banding patterns were observed. The proportion of IMP-1-producing multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa from clinical isolates steadily increased in this secondary hospital in Korea in 2010. This study provides information about the antimicrobial-resistant patterns and genotype of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa isolated from clinical isolates in Korea, 2010.

Characteristics of ustilago maydis virus of SH14 killer strain isolated in Korea

Hwang, Seon-Hee,Jung, Cheong-Hwan,Yie, Se-Won The Microbiological Society of Korea 1995 The journal of microbiology Vol.33 No.2

SH-14, a novel killer strain of Ustilago maydis was isolated in Korea. It has been reported in other papers that the toxin specificity and double-stranded RNA pattern of SH-14 strain were different from other laboratory strains. In this paper, we analyzed the biochemical characteristics of U. maydis SH-14 virus. Three distinctive peaks were isolated from CsCl density gradient, designated as top (T), intermediate (I) and bottom (B) components. We found that the densities of each components, 1.285, 1.408 g/cm$\^$3/, respectively, are very similar to those of other strains. As previously reported by the analysis of dsRNA in each component, the dsRNA segments are separately encapsidated. Capsid protein of SH-14 virus consists of two proteins about 70 Kd shown by SDS-PAGE analysis. Electron microscopic examination of the virus particles revealed that UmV particles are very similar in size and morphology to all isolates as well as all lab-strains. In order to test immunological cross reactivity of UmV, werstern bolt analysis was carriedout with antiserum against A8 virus. All capsid protein had positive reaction against A8 antibody which indicated that UmV are immunologically cross-reactive with all isolates from Korea. The results presented in this paper may show that UmV isolated from SH-14 strain has very similar biochemical characteristics to those of other UmV. However, the difference in the toxin specificity and the molecular weight of toxin protein from the SH-14 strain has us to conclude that U. maydis SH-14 strain is a new killer type.

Inferring transmission routes of avian influenza during the H5N8 outbreak of South Korea in 2014 using epidemiological and genetic data

최상철,Choi, Sang Chul The Microbiological Society of Korea 2018 미생물학회지 Vol.54 No.3

Avian influenza recently damaged the poultry industry, which suffered a huge economic loss reaching billions of U.S. dollars in South Korea. Transmission routes of the pathogens would help plan to control and limit the spread of the devastating biological tragedy. Phylogenetic analyses of pathogen's DNA sequences could sketch transmission trees relating hosts with directed edges. The last decade has seen the methodological development of inferring transmission trees using epidemiological as well as genetic data. Here, I reanalyzed the DNA sequence data that had originated in the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 outbreak of South Korea in 2014. The H5N8 viruses spread geographically contiguously from the origin of the outbreak, Jeonbuk. The Jeonbuk origin viruses were known to spread to four provinces neighboring Jeonbuk. I estimated the transmission tree of the host domestic and migratory wild birds after combining multiple runs of Markov chain Monte Carlo using a Bayesian method for inferring transmission trees. The estimated transmission tree, albeit with a rather large uncertainty in the directed edges, showed that the viruses spread from Jeonbuk through Chungnam to Gyeonggi. Domestic birds of breeder or broiler ducks were estimated to appear to be at the terminal nodes of the transmission tree. This observation confirmed that migratory wild birds played an important role as one of the main infection mediators in the avian influenza H5N8 outbreak of South Korea in 2014. 최근 양계업에 막대한 피해를 끼치는 조류독감은 한국에서 수천억원의 거대한 경제적 손실을 초래하였다. 병원균의 전염경로를 파악할 수 있다면 막대한 손해를 끼치는 생물학적 피해의 확산을 막고 일부 지역으로 제한하는데 큰 도움이 될 것이다. 병원균 DNA 서열의 계통학적인 분석을 통하여 감염된 숙주들을 방향성이 있는 연결선으로 연관짓는 전염 계통수를 얻을 수 있다. 지난 10여년간 유전적 데이터뿐만 아니라 역학 데이터를 이용한 전염 계통수 추론의 방법론적 발전이 이루어졌다. 이에, 본 연구에서는 전염 계통수 추론 방법을 이용하여 지난 2014년 한국에 발병한 고병원성 조류독감 H5N8에서 유래한 DNA 서열을 재분석하였다. 당시, H5N8 바이러스는 전라북도에서 시작하여 지역적으로 접해있는 4개의 지역으로 확산되어 나갔던 것으로 알려져 있다. 전염 계통수를 추론하는 베이지언 통계 방법인 Markov chain Monte Carlo를 반복적으로 시행하고 이를 종합하여 철새 외래종과 국내종 조류 숙주들의 전염 계통수를 추정하였다. 비록 연결선의 불확실성은 높았으나 추정된 전염 계통수를 통하여 당시 H5N8 바이러스는 전라북도에서 시작하고 충청남도를 거쳐 경기도로 퍼져나간 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 사육하는 오리와 같은 국내종 조류는 전염 계통수의 말단 노드에 위치하는 것으로 추정되었다. 이러한 결과를 통하여 야생 철새종이 2014년 한국의 H5N8 조류독감의 감염 매개자로 주된 역할을 하였다는 것을 재확인하였다.

Prevalence of Leptospira interrogans in Wild Rodents in Korea

Cho, Min-Kee,Kee, Sun-Ho,Kim, Yung-Jin,Kim, Yoon-Won,Song, Hyun-Jae,Song, Ki-Joon,Kim, Ho-Hoon,Oh, Hee-Bok The Korea Society for Microbiology 1999 大韓微生物學會誌 Vol.34 No.6

Leptospirosis has been known as endemic disease in Korea since 1984. Wild rodent, mostly Apodemus agrarius, has been known as an important source of leptospiral infection especially in rainy circumstances in harvest reason of rural area. The infection rates of Leptospira interrogans in field rodents, Apodemus agrarius, was investigated by culture and PCR detection of leptospiral DNA, and compared with previous data. Furthermore, the serogroup and serovar were investigated. Two hundred twenty two Apodemus agrarius were captured during October to December 1996. Spirohaetes were isolated from 22 (9.9%) and leptospiral DNA was detected in an additional six rodents (12.6%). Subsequent cross-agglutinin absorption test, monoclonal antibody reactivity classified 21 cultures among 22 isolates as Leptospira interrogans serogroup Icterohemorrhagiae serovar lai. The above data did not differ from previous survey in 1984 to 1987. There was no significant change of Leptospira interrogans infection in field rodents in Korea.